The Great French Wine Blight: Phylloxera and Recovery

In the 1860s, France's vineyards faced an invisible enemy: a tiny aphid from America called phylloxera vastatrix. Within decades, it destroyed nearly all of France's wine production, devastating an industry central to French identity and economy. This episode tells the story of the phylloxera crisis—how the pest arrived, the desperate search for a cure, the scientific breakthroughs, and the long road to recovery that transformed French viticulture. We explore the role of American rootstocks, the work of scientists like Jules-Émile Planchon and Charles Valentine Riley, and the social and economic upheaval that followed. Along the way, we consider how this crisis reshaped France's countryside, sparked new wine laws, and ultimately saved the very wines we know today. A tale of catastrophe and resilience, rooted in the soil of France. #Phylloxera #FrenchWine #Viticulture #WineHistory #JulesMilePlanchon #CharlesValentineRiley #Grafting #AmericanRootstocks #ParisWineMarket #Languedoc #Bordeaux #Champagne #Burgundy #ThirdRepublic #AgriculturalCrisis #History #FexingoHistory #WineScience #FrenchRevolution #NapoleonBonaparte Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo